Running Out of Time
by Toa Artfull
Summary: "Elsa scratched at the numbers on her wrist. This couldn't be right. Who else would be in her new sibling's room other than her mama and papa? Why was it counting down? Why did it reach zero when her eyes landed on the tiny baby bundled up in pink?"


This in a one-shot based on prompt I read on tumblr from elsannaheadcanons.

I do not own Frozen, that right goes to Disney.

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It didn't make any sense to her the numbers on her wrist had begun to tick down when mama had been rushed to the hospital. At first she thought that she meet The One while waiting for her baby sister to be born. But that didn't happen, after an hour or so Gerda, and Kai friends of the family. Came to pick her up and take her home while her mama was in the hospital with papa staying behind. It was almost painful after all she had been looking forwards to finally getting to see the newest member of the family. Still as she shuffled into the car she glanced down at her wrist, it said eighteen and forty three. With a confused look she scratched at her wrist some more, it didn't make any sense…

She had fallen asleep if the light shaking of her upper arm was any indication, with a soft groan she opened her ice blue eyes to stare up at her papa smiling warmly at her. With that she was fully awake, quickly sitting up her bed, with a large grin on her lithe face. Her papa just smiled some before speaking softly

"Come on Elsa…"

With a nod, she threw the covers off her as she jumped out her bed quick to run to the baby room ahead of her papa. A smile on her face, soon she saw her mother, looking down into the crib that with the pastel colored room. A chuckle came from behind her as she whipped around to see her papa enter the room. Before he moved past her to also look down in the crib. Speaking softly to his wife as Elsa stood in the middle of the room a smile still on her face, she was excited to see her baby sister. After she had waited for so long, and now she had a sibling, idly she glanced down at her wrist again to see it had only twenty seconds left on it. Her smile faltered for a moment, her brow scrunched together as she looked around the room, that couldn't be right. Who else what in her new sibling's room besides her mama, and papa? Why was it so close to reaching zero, when her mama picked up what she could only muse was her baby sister? She knew her time had run out, for the moment her eyes landed on Anna she didn't even have to look at her wrist to know it said zero.

It had been a rough few months after wards for Elsa her fourth birthday came up remarkably fast. Then a month after that she went to pre-k because her parents thought she was ready for it. Well that and they wanted to be able to focus more on taking care of Anna. After all taking care of a baby was hard work, but trouble began to brew Anna's first birthday. Not that Elsa could have know it ahead of time, after all your numbers never did show up until you were about one or so. So on Anna's birthday of course her parents looked at her wrist to look at the numbers. It was a good thing that the numbers don't start to count down right away. Takes a year for them to even shown then it take another year or two before, they count down. There where studies on the topic her parents had said when she had asked all sorts of questions. They had firmly said the soonest of person could have their numbers count was when they were three.

That didn't little to comfort Elsa, and it must have shown because her parents asked to see her wrist. With eyes wide she had shown them, her wrist and the four zeroes on her tiny wrist. The looks her parents gave her confused her at first but a moment later Elsa understood why.

"Oh, Elsa who you meet at school?"

They didn't know, they couldn't know…. So with a pained look she lied

"I don't know…"

After all it was bad enough she was lying she was not about to make up some random story about how she meet the one at pre-k. At first her parents didn't believe her, wouldn't any parent their daughter was just being shy they must of thought. Elsa didn't know, but after a few months they dropped it. A little sad thing that their daughter might never know who her soul mate is, but Elsa knew….and it terrified her. At first Elsa tried to avoided being near Anna, her little sister she had been so excited to meet at one point in time. Thought after much pushing from her parents she ended up spending a good chunk of time near her. But that was not the end of it Anna didn't help she only made their parents suspicious. Sure at first they thought the two little girls got along so well since they were sisters of course they were going to be the best of friends. Even if Elsa had seemed reluctant at first that quickly faded. Not what made their parents quirk their eye brows upwards, was when Elsa was at school. Anna would cry, and pout, at first their parents couldn't figure it out. It had only taken a few days to figure it out though.

And it hurt Elsa so much because Anna didn't even know what she was doing poor little baby Anna didn't even know that by laughing and giggling she was cementing their fate for both of them. For the longest time Elsa tried to delay whatever she felt was coming, but what was a newly turned five year old to do? To stop the newly turned two year old Anna from giving themselves away, but what was worst was Elsa knew that in another year Anna would turn three. And it only hurt even more, because every time she saw Anna the toddler would smile, or coo happily at her.

Surprisingly or, maybe it was due to denial nether her mama, or papa, had yet to figured it out by Anna's third birthday. She was sure they would have by now, if fact after Anna's first birthday her first word had been her name…Elsa panicked a little today was the day they would figure it out. And then…well Elsa was not sure what would happen, but bad things for sure….yet nothing happened, the number's on Anna's wrist had yet to count down. She even looked at them herself, they didn't even flicker.

"Elsa?"

Tearing her gaze away from her sister's wrist she started at seafoam green eyes staring at her wide with wonder. Soon Elsa let out a chuckle, before letting go of Anna's wrist, before speaking.

"Yes, Anna?"

Anna's eyes sparkled a little as she reached for Elsa's wrist pushing back the sleeve covering it before looking at the four little zeroes that lined Elsa's wrist. Elsa felt her whole body shake, her little sister was looking at the very reason for her shame for the very reason saw was afraid to get to close to her sister. Yet Anna's sweet smile seemed to melt all her worries, and then they acted as if they were just sister's the best of friends. It made Elsa feel like all of this could last, yet it was not meant to be.

It was later that night when Anna's numbers began to tick down, Elsa had gone out with papa to get the birthday cake from the baker's when papa's cell rang. It had been mama, Anna's numbers had started to count down, and from the look he gave Elsa it seemed it was time it would take to go get a cake… When Papa had finished talking to mama he pressed a few buttons before he was calling somebody….Things changed for the worst after that…

Elsa was told a few weeks later that Anna had cried for three days. She didn't have any reason to doubt Gerda the pain and hurt in her eyes almost matched the ache and pain in her own heart when she had heard. It seemed the numbers had stopped ticking down the moment he father had called up Kai to come pick her up, or at least that was what she got from the way Kai spoke. It was a painful transition. A few months later, the papers had been signed and Elsa was officially under the legal guardianship and protection of Gerda and Kai, not that they weren't nice people hardy from it. But it didn't quiet help quill the pain the day she turned six, as she got in the minivan that was set to take her across the country, away from Anna. It was too late to complain too late to try and fix things, to late….Elsa had run out of time….


End file.
